Umbrella



C. E. CLAPPER Nov. 7, I950 UMBRELLA Filed May 1, 1947 INVENTOR 64/12 5 C/a a aer BY 5 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I UMBRELLA Clyde E. Clapper, Kansas City, Mo. 2 Application {May 1, 1947, Serial No. 745,13?

2' Claims.

brellas and has .for its primary objective the provision of an umbrella, adapted to shade or shelter an area more or lessremoved from the main post or pedestal of the umbrella.

I he post of a 'conventionalumbrella falls at the center of the area of shelter, a fact which frequently reduces the usefulness of the area and hence of the umbrella. Suppose for instance it is desired to shade the. operator of a tractor. With acohventionalumbrella it is necessary to arrangea support for the umbrella post such that the post will beimmediately adjacent to the tractor s seat in order to obtain as much benefit as possible from the umbrella. course, less than half of the umbrella can be over the worker; if it provides adequate shade when the tractor is going in one direction the umbrella very frequently is not properly located to give the desired shade when the tractor is turned in another direction. Moreover the close proximity of the umbrella post to the worker ordinarily interferes with one or more control operations which must be performed in the course of operating the tractor or its attachments.

With these facts in'mind, it is an object of the present invention to'provide an umbrella which has none of the shortcomings referred to above. More specifically, one object is to provide an umbrella wherein the supportingpost or pedestal is near the edge of the sheltered area whereby the umbrella may be centered over the person or object, to, be sheltered while thepost remains at a convenient distance therefrom.

Another object is to provide an umbrella of this type wherein the zone of shelter can be shifted easily with respect to the pedestal.

Another object is to provide an umbrella of improved construction which will be rugged and durable, yet simple and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and features will appear in the course of the following description of the invention. In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are employed to identify like parts of the various views,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing my umbrella in raised position, the fabric covering having been omitted in the interest of clarity,

Fig. 2 is an elevational view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing the umbrella in lowered condition,

Fi 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken Even at best, of-

. 2 alonathe line. 3- -3 of Fig. lin the. direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. l in the directionof the rrows, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, my umbrella has a rigid post or pedestal. l0 adapted to be mounted in a socket-or held .upright by any other suitable 'form of support, not shown. Pivoted on the upper'endof the post are two spaced-apart arms II and l2carrying at their free ends a short extension post [3; The

posts. and arms form a parallelogram, structure hinged at its corners (l4) whereby the extension post I3 can swing up. or down in an arcabout-the upper end of post 10 while at the sametimerem nis. r llel; ret l- As; i l vhe obs from Figs. 3 to, 5, inclusive, eachoftheaforementioned arms comprise'twobars disposed side by side and-arranged to prevent sidewisetilting of the extension post.

In order to lock the extension postat, any desired position in its are, a collar I5 is provided which is connected to arm [2 by a link or brace 16. The brace is pivoted at its opposite ends ,to the armand collar respectively, wherebythe collar slides up and down post in as-the extension post I3 moves in its arc. The downward'movement of the collar is limited by a shoulder I! on the post, and it may be rendered immovable in other positions by tightening a thumbscrew 18 against the post. This obviously locks extension post l3 in a fixed relationship to the main post I0.

The extension post has a fluted center section terminating in circular flanges or shoulders 20 and 2 l. A stud 22 projects upwardly from shoulder 20 and encircling this is a collar 23 which is maintained in fixed position thereon by a cotter key 24. The lower part of this collar comprises an annular channel adapted to retain a heavy wire 25 which is threaded through holes in the ends of the umbrella ribs 26, the sides of this channel being cut away at points opposite the ribs to permit said ribs to pivot up and down about the wire as a hinge.

Each rib is provided with a support or stay 28 having one end hinged to the associated rib at 29. At the opposite end the stays are hinged to a sleeve 30, the sleeve being provided with an annular channel adapted to retain wire 3! which is threaded through holes in the stays, as shown. The inside diameter of the sleeve is just slightly larger than shoulder 2| and the fluted part of the post l3. j

When the umbrella is in its lowered position, sleeve 30 encircles the overlapping parts of arm [2 and brace I 6 as shown in Fig. 2. This prevents arm l2 from pivoting downwardly even though the thumbscrew I8 is not tightened. When arms I l and 12 are in the position shown in Fig. 2, a force may be applied by hand to the sleeve 30 causing it to slide up arm l2 and over shoulder 2|. This, of course, through the medium of stays 28 elevates the ribs 26 so that the umbrella covering (not shown) assumes its conventional taut or raised condition. As sleeve 30 passes above shoulder 2| arms ll and [2 are allowed to swing toward their Fig; 1 position thereupon the tips 32 of arm I2 engage the bottom of the sleeve 30 and prevent retrograde movement thereof.

To lower the umbrella it is necessary to return arms II and I2 all the way to their Fig. 2 position, for only then is it possible for sleeve 30 to pass downwardly over the joint between post l3 and'arm 12. In other words, in all positions of the arms intermediate those shown in Fig; 1 and Fig. 2 the umbrella will remain up. Thus, the center of .the raised umbrella may be displaced various distances from the axis of post and this, together with the fact that the post is free to turn in its socket or support so that the umbrella center can move in a circle about the post as an axis, makes it possible to shade or shelter any selected portion of an area very 'much larger than'the umbrella itself.

' From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention one well adapted' to attain all of the 'ends and objects hereinbefore set forth, to-

gether with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to-the apparatus. Inasmuch as many possible embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof it is to be understood that all matters 'herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitng sense.

It also will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features post, a secondary post, upper and lower arms having one end hinged to said secondary post at longitudinally spaced points and having the opposite end hinged to the upper portion of the pri- Numb er 4. mary post at longitudinally spaced points, whereby said secondary post is free to swing up and down in an are about the upper end of said primary post while being maintained substantially parallel thereto, a sleeve normally encircling the lower one of said arms, said sleeve being slidable along said one arm and onto said secondary post when said one arm and secondary post are in substantial alignment, said sleeve resting onsaid one arm when said arm is in angular relationship to said secondary post to prevent retrograde movement of said sleeve, and said upper arm forming a stop to limit upward movement of the sleeve along said secondary post, fabric supporting ribs hingedly connected to said secondary post, and stays connecting the ribs tosaid sleeve whereby the ribs are raised to stretch the fabric taut when said sleeve encircles said'secondary post.

2. An umbrella comprising aprimary upright post, a secondary post, a pair of arm'shavi 'i one end hinged to saidsecondary post atlongitudinally spaced points and havingthe oppositeend hinged to the upper portion of the primary post at longitudinally spaced points, whereby said secondary post is free to swing up and down in an are about the upper end of said primary post while being maintained substantially parallel thereto, a collar slidably mounted on one of said posts, a brace having one end hinged to the collar and the other hinged to one of said arms intermediate its ends, and meansfor securing said collar fixedly to said one post at different positions alongthe length of said, post thereby to immobilize said secondary post in'an'y selected position in said are; p j v p, j CLYDE E. CLAPBEB.

QR EFEREN'CES CITED? file of this patent; 7, (I

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Name 7 7 Date 1,006,454 Bair 'OctZ 24, 1911 1,042,658 Dunnenberger et al. Oct. 29, 1912 1,226,877 Gautschyl May 22, 1917 1,243,153 Gabler' Oct. 16, 1917 1,317,242 Thomas Sept. 30, 1919 2,149,059. 9 Leon ,Feb., 28, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 209,043 Germany Apr. 20, 1909 777,981

France Dec. 15, 19 34 The following references are of jrecordfin 

